Tuesdays With Morrie

         This book seems like it is going to be a favorite. I love books that make you think like this one does. The story really makes you look into your own life and reevaluate it. I'm definitely going to apply some lessons in this book to my own life. However, as cheerful as Morrie is, the book always leaves me in a weird mood. It leaves me like something or someone very important has left my life until I continue reading it again. I like that feeling only because I get it from a book. This book also taught me that time is limited, the best time to live is right now. So, I'm starting to try to do that.

           Morrie makes me realize that it is extremely important to live as much as possible. There's no time for dwelling on the past and being unhappy. He explains this through his interview and his aphorisms. He also taught me that our culture today is not helping us live, it's putting us down and making us feel bad about ourselves. I am starting to apply this to my own life as well. I'm not comparing myself to rich people with no talent, I'm not putting myself down because I'm not like them. This makes me really excited to see what other aphorisms can help me improve my life.

Bucket List

Go to college

Live in California

Go skydiving 

Go shark cage diving

Go scuba diving

Go bungee jumping 

Go white water rafting 

Go hang gliding

Go zip lining

Go cliff diving 

Go to as many concerts as possible 

Travel as much as possible

Have a career that I enjoy

Try things I might not be comfortable with

Go on countless adventures

Take pictures to remember the adventures 

Go ghost hunting

Go to coachella

Float in the Dead Sea

Celebrate Holi in India

Be the best person I can be

Try new things

Take risks

Be happy :)

Reflection Blog

        This quarter I have made many improvements. In English Language Arts, I feel my writing has definitely improved. I feel that the more I write, the better it is. I've been very proud of my AOWs, blogs, and other essays. I feel that this quarter especially my writing has changed. With all of the argumentative units and essays my writing has become more formal. I also don't just write quickly I can now write with quality at the same time.

        Something I am very proud of this quarter is my "Night vs film" blog. I was proud of it right when I finished it. To be honest I've never really worked that hard on a blog before. I think I was just so intrigued by the topic I felt determined to do a good job. I feel that blog also made me realize that my writing has improved. The essay was more formal than I thought it would come out to be. I am still extremely proud of it. 

          The most challenging part of this quarter was keeping up with everything and really enjoying or getting myself into the topic. With all of the Holocaust stuff and making up old work I was struggling to keep up. However, I feel that I really pulled through towards the end of the holocaust unit. Other than really putting myself into the holocaust unit, I haven't been really interested in the other topics. Along with keeping up I just didn't really care that much about the stuff we were learning. As well as getting more caught up I also got myself more interested in the end of the quarter. I feel that those two things really go hand in hand.

TKAM Comparative Analysis

To Kill A Mockingbird Comparative Analysis

Prompt: What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more effective in delivering its message than the other?

           I think the most important difference between the written version of To Kill A Mockingbird and the film is the over all details. The film had all of the main events the Boo Radley house in the beginning, school, the trial, and when Boo saves Scout and Jem. The film also had less characters or didn't go in depth with minor characters and their contributions to the story. The book was much more detail and somewhat more personal. The book had descriptions for each new character, no matter how important they were. In the novel the reader got to know more about the town of Maycomb, Miss Maudie, the Finch family, Mrs. Dubose, Tom Robinson, the Radley family, and many other characters. The reader was also able to go more in depth with Scout and her personality. The film had some narration, but not as much as the book. Though the movie definitely had subtle displays of minor characters and the events over the seasons, for example when Atticus shot the dog or when Mrs. Dubose made her appearance yelling at the the children in the beginning. However, overall the main story is pretty conveyed in both versions.

          In my opinion the written version of To Kill A Mockingbird was much more effective of delivering its message. I think this because the film was slightly more vague and subtle when it comes to the morals of the story. For example Atticus had a very short talk with Scout about “walking in someone else's shoes”. The film also glossed over some minor but still important parts of the book. Events such as: Mrs. Dubose and her death, Miss Maudie’s house catching on fire, the hole in the tree lasted much longer than it did in the film, Scout and her family, etc. the film just displayed the most important messages but with very little detail compared to the novel.

           The book was very personal to me. It portrayed the morals with amazing detail and personality. The film only had one so-called “Mockingbird” which was Boo Radley. The book had several: Tom Robinson, Miss Maudie, Scout, Jem, Atticus, etc. All of these characters had their own little contributions to the messages of the story. The book also really depicted how Jem and Scout were growing and maturing throughout these events. In the book Scout and Boo had a much more personal relationship. In the end of the novel you can really see how Scout was in Boo’s shoes. She all of the past events of her life from the Radley porch. She felt a connection with Boo that is unexplainable. All in all the book was much more effective in displaying Harper Lee’s messages.